President of the ECOWAS Commission Dr Omar Touray, has urged member states to leverage the vast potentials of West Africa’s private sector toward subregional economic integration and development.
Touray made the plea at the 93rd Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Council of Ministers yesterday in Abuja.
He said local private sector actors needed the support of both ECOWAS and individual member states because they have an important role in achieving the bloc’s economic integration efforts.
The commission’s president explained that the goal was to mobilise, develop and retain regional capital within the ECOWAS subregion for the overall good of all.
He said: “The role of our private sector in providing the necessary resources for our Institutions, removing non-tariff barriers, implementing regionally agreed policies and commitments is vital to our success.
“Our local private sector actors also have an important role, and they need the support of both the regional institutions and governments to exploit the vast potentials in our community.
“We must give our local private sector actors the right of first refusal in any investment opportunity in our community. “We should harness the resources of our businessmen and women to succeed.”
Touray also said over the years, ECOWAS had been consistent in its determination to deepen regional integration process by deploying multifaceted strategies to achieve it, and pledged to continue doing so.
According to him, such efforts include regional energy development, regional air transport development, regional regulation on roaming on public mobile communications networks, among others within the ECOWAS space.
